The evidence is piling up that reducing our reliance on dirty energy sources like coal and oil can have significant benefits for planet Earth and its inhabitants.
Research from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, summarized by SciTechDaily, aimed to discover how phasing out dirty energy could have an impact on disease-specific mortality, as well as deaths in general.
The study was mostly focused on the effect of air pollution levels on health, and the findings are revealing.
As the experts detailed, the mortality burden was greatest for cardiometabolic conditions, accounting for 52% of 8.34 million deaths linked to air pollution per year. Among those issues is ischaemic heart disease — a leading cause of heart attacks.
Meanwhile, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were both notable related illnesses, accounting for 16% each.
According to atmospheric consultant Jos Lelieveld from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, an estimated 5.13 million excess deaths could be avoided worldwide each year if we phased out fossil fuels.
"This corresponds to 82% of the maximum number of air pollution deaths that could be averted by controlling all anthropogenic emissions," Lelieveld added in a statement.
"Ambient air pollution would no longer be a leading environmental health risk factor if the use of fossil fuels were superseded by equitable access to clean sources of renewable energy," epidemiologist Andy Haines from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said, per SciTechDaily. "This study provides new evidence to motivate rapid fossil fuel phase-out."
Of course, there are other likely benefits from shifting away from our reliance on dirty energy. Fewer planet-warming gases would be emitted from burning oil, coal, and gas, which would help to slow unsustainable temperature increases.
Rising global temperatures are making extreme weather conditions — like wildfires, drought, deadly storms, and flooding — longer and more intense, having a notable impact on human and animal mortality and causing significant environmental damage.
While it might feel difficult to make a difference on your own, there are ways to reduce air pollution by making small changes in your everyday life.
Walking, taking public transport, or riding a bike can help to reduce levels of pollution from short, single-person car trips, which not only produce particulate matter and toxic gases but warm the planet, too.
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